The Christian Democrats’ advertising campaign [in the run-up to the latest General Election in Sweden in September 2010] is about creating “a more humane Sweden”. Was it not the same party which, in its role as part of the Alliance government, recently voted away a human right? With the new Education Bill (if the left don’t win the election and change the Bill), it will be illegal in Sweden to homeschool - something which is a human right, as stated in the European Convention. I would like to ask Göran Hägglund (Christian Democrats’ leader) how Sweden becomes more humane with fewer human rights; and how these voting habits support in practice the statement “Christian Democrats are fighting for peoples‘ and families‘ right to decide over their own daily life and believe in their ability to take responsibility.”

And what can one say about the Liberal party? Yes, we know now that genuine learning or development has no place in the school that Jan Björklund is realising, but that instead it reflects the good old aims of compulsory education: store, sort and mould children. Look at what a remedial teacher and advisor to the organisation for Remedial Schools in Sweden, Wern Palmius, says about these aims... Be that as it may, it is not so amusing that the Liberal party’s School politics completely disregards pedagogical research, and yet both the party and the Alliance use this phrase nearly as a mantra: “principals must be able to work as pedagogical leaders.” Oh really? When the pedagogy in question is so much about rules and order, early grading and more tests, one might suggest that the job resembles police work more than something that is to do with learning…

But you’ve got to laugh, and say loud and clear that this won’t do for our children, and for our society’s future.

Welcome! Here you can read about what a Sudbury school is, and why I think there should be at least one in Sweden. Under the banner photograph are links to letters and articles I have written, which describe my thoughts in more detail. For English, look for the green text that follows the Swedish, in both the posts and the articles.

A school where the students decide for themselves what and how they want to learn, and how the school is run. There are of course rules, but these are based on democratic values, and everybody's right to freedom, not on the pre-ordained authority of adults, staff or principal. No knowledge or activity is considered more or less valuable than any other, and every student may develop his or her interests at their own rate. Because everyone learns in different ways, there is no place in a Sudbury school for pre-arranged classes, tests or grading. When a student or a group of students (often spanning a range of ages) approaches staff with a request for help with learning, staff will arrange this in the most efficient way. This is a school where freedom, personal motivation and democratic values are prioritised.